Simple
by BBVX
Summary: It was the most complicated situation in the world, but to him it was simple.
1. Missing home

I used to be strong.

Feels funny saying that. I mean, I'm still strong. Physically, anyway. Guess they broke me in some other way; mentally, maybe? Emotionally, probably. Psychologically, definitely.

It used to be easy, too.

Together, as a unit, we were strong, invincible and indestructible. At least, that's what I used to tell myself. But then, I always used to go looking for that danger; for that chance of risk and that daring edge of life that's always so sharp. Guess I found it. Thing is, I wasn't ready to face it. I was too slow; too blunt; too blinded; too foolish. I ducked too low; took too long bouncing back; stumbled too far; cut too shallow….I'll never make that mistake again.

Leo always used to say to me, '_don't go out alone, Raph. Master Splinter wants you to stay in with the rest of us.' _And I'd shrug him off. Because that's how me and Leo worked. We bounced off each other; fed each other's fire; pushed each other's buttons and stretched our limits to a whole new level. But Leo isn't here now, and these people don't bite back at my insults. Instead they reach for the bat and the whip. They shorten food rations and they wake us up hours earlier to increase our workload. They don't fight clean. I'll do something dumb and the cowering guy six steps down our line takes the brunt for my actions. Out here, in this weird wonderland, it's a whole new playing field, and I don't know if I can fight in this world, let alone win.

Counting down the days is my biggest chore. They can tax my body and break my mind, but seeing those tallied marks against that rough stone….How many days has it even been now? The wall's covered so much the marks have begun to blur against each other; stone upon stone, day upon day, time upon time…. I think, as an estimate, it's been about three years. Roughly, anyway. That's three years of this hellhole. Three years without my brothers or my home. Three years away from civilisation and three years of forced, cruel labour. Three years of regret and failed happenings.

But it's also three years' worth of lessons; three years' worth of time, and three years' worth of misgivings.

At first I was an animal. I remember that first day so clearly….With clenched jaw, I remember it. Remember the cause of it and the effects of it, and I think on what could become because of it. That makes me shiver, not that anybody notices it. And if they did, they wouldn't say it. Why? Because out here the game's different. These aren't my brother's. They're not Master Splinter and they're not April and Casey. These are strangers. Men in masks and figures in shadows. People I can't trust. People I won't trust. Not again. Never again.

I always thought mankind was built on cowards, especially since I lived in New York; the greatest city on Earth where the average shmuck was expected to be mugged or worse at least three times in their lifetime. Not exactly a good statistic for humanity. But then I came here, met my own race, and my blood chilled. Wish I could say I expected more, but deep down inside, I don't think I did. I don't think I could. After two months I realised what they were trying to do to me, what they have done to me and are doing to me…

They're trying to polish me. Like a piece of marble they want to smooth out the rough edges and nicks that are what make me who I am…or should that be who I was? They have answers for everything, but they've achieved nothing. Shackles and chains and threats can only take civilisation so far. Building a world on the back of a brother can only lead to a revolutionary fall. I want to be there-no, I _need_ to be there for that. To reclaim the three years they stole from me and make sure they pay for every ounce of blood they've taken!

Master Splinter used to tell me revenge is a petty and destructive force, but so far it's all that's kept me going, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let them blow out my last flame.

They're moving me now. Three years in the mining quadrant and they're finally moving me. I think it's because I finally snapped and did something reckless…. I won't go into it, let's just say I disrupted business and the east mines aren't going to be meeting their targets for a long time. I don't know where I'm going, and to be honest, I don't care. Wherever they're taking me, it can't be worse than where I was…can it?

Shell, I hope not. I don't know if I can go through that again. Down in the dark, where the soot and the dust clog the air, you _know_ there's no escape. All of the entrances were blocked and every chance of light was swept away by the time the end of the day came. I got to see the stars though, guess that's something, right? They looked the same as what they did in New York….

I wonder if I'll get to see the stars where I'm going.

I hope so…I miss home.

* * *

New story idea :) this is the prologue... do you think I should continue it? Hope anyone who read this enjoyed!

R&R, please!


	2. Archangel

Waking up was hard. Back home it used to be hard because it was early, and I could guarantee there'd be practice waiting for me and I'd have a hangover from the night before. Now it's difficult because it hurts, physically hurts, and I just don't _want_ to wake up anymore. Not to cold walls. I'm so sick of waking up to finding myself in a cell and it's really beginning to get to me.

I opened my eyes, pushed myself up, and grunted when I fell back against the solid wall. Everything's grey and cold, damp and dark, enclosed and bare. The walls are grimy, the silence stretches on and a drip fades off down the long line of cells and echoes on forever. My body hurts. Looking down, I winced to find the bruises larger and darker than I remember them being. Guess they laid into me after drugging me…makes sense. The guards round here are all cowards.

Standing was as painful as actually embracing reality. My knees buckled and it took me two tries to stand, but when I finally managed it I stood tall. Shoulders back, jaw clenched, I looked through the grimy cell bars and attempted to get a decent glance about. There's no door, so how they got me into this place is a mystery itself, and opposite me is another cell that I can see straight into. And it's empty.

There was a thunderous racket above me and I must have jumped a foot in the air. I was back against the back wall before the noise had even stopped, chest heaving and completely panicked as my body tensed and I looked about for the source of the noise. Makes me laugh. In the old days I'd have been all over that, wanting to investigate it, but now…now I'm holding back? It just isn't me. But it's what they're making me, and if I don't get out of here soon it's what I'm going to become.

The noise faded and instead there was something deeper echoing down the lost hall. Slowly I ventured forwards, one foot at a time and hating myself for not being able to charge headfirst to the cell doors and demand that they let me out like I used to. Finally I reached the solid metal, and as I did it struck me that I recognised the sound as the slowest, deepest form of laughter I've ever heard. It was taunting me, laughing _at_ me. And because of that I couldn't help the snarl that brought itself out of me.

The laughter died, and when the attack didn't follow I knew that the sound hadn't come from the guards. Instead it came from opposite me. The second cell to the left.

"So, you're the new guy."

The voice was deep; deeper than anybody's I know. My eyes shot to the direction of the voice and my fingers clenched about the bars of my cage. I can't see who's inside because they're pressed back against the wall and the light only stretches half way into their cell, and it irked me that I'd been taken off guard by anybody, let alone some tool in a cell.

"You got a name, son?"

The voice was slower this time, and it dragged through the air and seemed to vibrate against the brick. Talking, if you can believe it, is one of the few things the guards don't punish us for. Almost everything else bar sleeping, breathing and eating is a crime, and a crime is punishable by death and… other nasty things. You don't want me to get into that, so let's just leave it out.

"Raph."

It hurt to say. The tranquiliser drugs are still in my system, and I must have been out of it for a while because my throat feels so raw that my voice came out as a whisper. I was almost afraid they hadn't caught it and I don't feel up to repeating it again.

"Ah," the speaker was intrigued, and intrigued in this place is never good. Ever. It almost always means trouble. "Raph, I presume, is short for Raphael, correct?"

I took the time to lean against the side of the wall before answering, making sure I could still see the voice's cell as I did. "What if it is?"

"It is known in catholic culture that the archangel Raphael was a saint sent from the Lord unto the Earth to aid those in need. It is not for nought that he is considered the saint for medical healers and travellers."

Okay, I wasn't expecting that. I shook my head. Of all the people I get stuck talking to it just had to be another nut. "Listen, I ain't named after no angel, okay?"

"Then for what reason was you given your name?"

I shrugged. It feels weird aching in a cell whilst having someone question you about your name, let me tell ya. "Some painter, I guess. I dunno, I never really asked…"

"You never asked the reason behind your name?"

My shoulders fell forwards and I looked down. It was just something small, but it means a lot, I guess. What if I can't make it out of this place and I end up dying with a name with no purpose? I never used to question it. I mean, Master Splinter was always around, and god forbid if the day came when we lost him, one of my brothers would probably know. It was never a pressing issue at the time…kind of regretting that now…

I decided to try and lose the spotlight the voice had given me. "What's your name, anyway?" I honestly didn't care, but it felt nice to have a normal-ish conversation for once. It's been three years, and the only people I ever had the chance to talk to always seemed to get moved away from me or killed the next day. After a while I sort of clammed up and stopped trying to think about them and more about me. About how I was going to escape and go home….Things never did quite work out how I planned.

"My name is Raguel, Raphael. I too was named after one of the seven archangels; the archangel of justice, fairness, harmony, and vengeance. My very name is to mean the 'friend of God'."

"You're into that religious stuff, huh? Angels and the Devil and all that?"

"I was raised by monks. My faith is strong."

I glanced back up at the smooth, deep voice and folded my arms across my plastron. "Why are you tellin' me? Ain't like I care."

It was cruel, but it was honest. I don't care. Most likely they'll just move him in the next few hours and I'll never see him again anyway. It's best not to get attached.

"That, Raphael, is exactly what is wrong with this race of ours. This world, this existence, this time, it is based upon the solitude of brethren's backs. You turn your back upon me, as I turn my back upon you, and as they have upon themselves. If we all turn to indifference and injustice, how may we ever spot the dagger poised for our backs? We are divided. We are lost. We are without hope. Without faith. We flock without a shepherd, and so are divided and preyed upon by the wolves of mankind. Would you have it that my back be broken to save the flesh of your own?"

I stayed quiet. He had something, I'd give him that. There's weight to his words and authority in his voice, but I just can't do it anymore. When I first came to this place I tried to save the people around me, or more I tried to stop them getting hurt. But when I took the beatings and the punishment nobody stood up for me…I stopped after the sixth time. Stopped trying. Stopped taking the beatings. Stopped caring. I just wanted to go home; still do. I just want to go home…

"The Devil is not a being, Raphael, more an entity in every soul that must be overcome before high Heaven may be reached and eternal pleasure and peace obtained. The Devil is strong in these walls, Raphael. The Devil hides in me, as he hides in you, and he hides in them. We cannot force others to look for the light in the darkness, but I am one for choosing to show the light to those that look for it. I ask that you care, Raphael, not for myself, nor for yourself, but for the world. For others. For them. For the people who suffer more than yourself. For the people who cannot make it out of the Hell they have had forced upon themselves. Help them, Raphael, and care."

I gotta tell you, after that little speech I'm almost ashamed to say I almost gave up. The guy's got a voice filled with soul, and it's got something. Not sure what it is, but it's definitely got flavour and passion. I didn't look up at his cell again, but I answered him.

"You can believe that if ya want, but I've tried helping people. You can't help someone who won't help himself."

"Time is the father of all medicinal healers, Raphael. Men need more than just words to save them. Taking a beating cannot save those struggling fifty miles away. It cannot feed the hungry, cure the sick, or clothe the needy. Indeed, a revolution is needed, a promise must be struck, heaven must be made in the hearts of those suffering in Hell and the sweet song of freedom must be strum against the harp of leadership. You may have saved a handful of lives by taking their scolding, but how many more could be saved if the correct action were to be taken? How many would you be willing to save at the cost of losing your own?"

It was a question I couldn't answer. As many as possible…but how many's that? Because I couldn't answer, I changed the topic.

"What is this place?"

"It is the corridor that never sleeps. You have only to listen and you can hear the wails of those who sob through the stone. They are in pain. They ache and they cry. Tears of salt, tears of blood. They break beneath the rock before the floor meets the ceiling and the cage enwraps them. Then the fight begins and they battle until the blood falls down the side of their walls. When the task is done the victor comes back. And the sobs deepen."

That doesn't sound good. I decided to test his words and the honesty behind them. Closing my mouth, I listened hard. Sure enough, along with the echo of the drip and the cold comfort of the silence, there was the trail of weeping moans through the brickwork. Cold, broken wails met me, and I shivered involuntarily. Raguel must have caught my shiver, because he continued.

"Frightening, isn't it? This is the virtue of mankind. The honest brutality of the Devil's grip. From here there is but one escape, and it comes with the Lord's warm grasp and a promise of freedom in one form only."

"You mean death?"

"It is another journey many start too soon."

I was a little taken aback by the sincere regret of the last comment. I had never heard regret sound so…regretful. So _painful. _So dashed and lost. "What happens here?!"

"I told you, Raphael. The wails through the wall tell you. You are in the darkest pits of the void now. Only the beast in black may come and free you in the solitude of your service. Would you welcome death, Raphael? Would you ask it to come free you?"

"Never!" I couldn't see it, but I'm pretty certain Raguel was smiling when I growled at him, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the bars of my cell. "I'm getting out of here! I have a family to get back to and I know they're looking for me! They won't stop until they find me!"

"And you think those inside these walls are without family and friends? Many have tried, Raphael. Bribes, threats, promises and the law have all fallen under man's grip. I pray that you are soon rescued, but I myself have been here twelve long years. No soul has since come for me."

"Twelve years…?"

There was the sound of shuffling and Raguel finally stepped close to the bars of his cell so that I could see him. Hands outstretched, feet apart, I got a good look at him, and I almost choked when I found him to be the opposite of what I had expected. I had thought, despite the cool voice, that I would be talking to the scrawny voice of a religious figure who had been shut in the dark too long and finally gone mad. Instead Raguel was a male turtle, like me. But he stood at least seven feet tall, had muscles that dwarfed my own and deep burrowing onyx eyes that seemed to search the soul. Upon each wrist he had a pair of black and white woven beads knotted and tied, and he held himself out and open to judgment. He looks menacing, as if he belongs to some brooding and bloody gang, but the way he talks with such self-restraint and calm…

"Look at me, Raphael. I came here youthful and bound with spirit and energy. It wasn't until six long years afterwards that I finally faced the sour truth. My brethren had cast me out, as they have too cast out you, and since I have been alone in my vigil with the Lord. I pray hard every day for salvation, but so far no call of mine has been answered. How do you know your family will find you in the dark?"

I smirked. I honestly couldn't help it. Slowly my smirk became a smile and I felt the welling sense of pride fill my chest. "You obviously haven't met my family. We're not like the rest of the broken people hiding in here. They'll come for me. You'll see."

Raguel returned my smile, a small chuckle escaping him. He seemed to enjoy smiling. "I hope so, Raphael. I would hate for you to become as ingrained in this bloody sport as I have allowed myself to become."

"Bloody sport…? What are you-"

I was interrupted by a screaming mechanical sound similar to a lift grating its way through the silence. It came from the cell beside Raguel's, and immediately his smile fell and he faded back into the shadows. I watched as what looked to be a concrete floor was slowly lowered down where it ended on the floor with a _thunk_. For a brief moment it was illuminated by a spotlight above, and the smear of blood sliding along the floor made me reel back in shock and horror. And then I saw the bond ripped free from its section of flesh still oozing red in the corner, and I gagged on the air that surrounded me. The ceiling closed and the spotlight died, and suddenly I realised why there was no doors.

"What…what…?" I couldn't finish, and Raguel's voice caught me as I stepped back and pushed myself against the wall where my hands scratched against the brick.

"Such a brutal and bloody sport. Poor, tender Ruth…she never stood a chance."

"Just what the hell is going on, Raguel?!"

"I told you, Raphael. You are in the darkest pit of the void now. Screams are swallowed here, blood drips down these catacombs and seeps through the rockface. You are not alone. You will never be alone. There will forever be the bane of evil in the hearts of others. I know you have a good heart, Raphael. Talking to you has shown me that. I hope I never face you in the bite of battle, for I fear, despite my search for the Lord, my quest is still unsolved. When it comes to the cage, if you are my enemy, I am not strong enough to face death yet."

"What the hell are you getting at?"

"Can you fight, Raphael?"

"Can I…Can I fight? What? Why?!" There was another roar exactly the same as the one that had come from when I had first woken. But this time, instead of clinging to the wall, I stepped forwards and advanced against the cell bars threateningly. I need answers, and if Raguel is the only one here willing to talk then-

**_K-CHINK!_**

What was that? Shell! The ground's moving! It feels like it's vibrating, twisting and turning. I staggered and grabbed hold of the rock, covering my face as the ash began to swirl about as if it was trapped in a vortex. The wall slipped downwards beneath my fingers and suddenly my world was thrown into blinding light as the ceiling above me opened. I squinted, pushed myself back and cursed as the floor was pushed up into the light.

"I hope to see you soon, Raphael! Fight valiantly, and remember, darkness harbours in every soul! Fight well archangel! Fight well!"

"I am not a bastard archangel!" I screamed down at Raguel just as he stepped out of the shadows. I caught his sad smile and the soft wave and then he was gone. The floor continued lifting me higher towards the light, and terror bit into me, tearing chunks from my tense shoulders.

I thought back to the drip of water echoing along the corridor…and I can't help but wonder, was it really water seeping down through the cracks in the rock? Or could it have been… God forbid, could it have been blood?


	3. The cage

The ceiling broke away. The light's so bright, blindingly bright. I covered my face with my arms to block it out whilst the white flimsy pieces of dust flew through it and my squinted vision caught them. The light glared harder, and I squinted through it, blinking rapidly and hard. But it's impossible to see. Everything's just so bright! And the noise…what the heck is that? It sounds like a giant roar. Deafening. Impulsive. Animalistic, even. What the shell?

I can't hear anything, I can't see anything. Something's there and I can't see it. My chest is heaving and my breaths are coming so fast I have to mentally think about slowing them down. Panic is gripping me hard and my anger is bubbling beyond control. I reach out blindly to the right, feel my fingers encase about something metal, and hold on tight. The deafening sound thins and dims as a loud voice beckons over the rest.

"AND HERE WE HAVE OUR LATEST COMPETITOR! GIVE IT UP, FOLKS, FOR THE RED RAGE!"

The thunder was back. Louder this time. Closer. I'm still holding onto the metal as hard as I can, my other hand trying to block out that blasted light. I feel sick. Lightheaded. Confused. Just what the hell is going on?

"AND WHO IS OUR RED RAGE FIGHTING AGAINST THIS ROUND I HEAR YOU CALL? NONE OTHER THAN OUR FAVOURITE! THE ONE, THE ONLY, BONECRUSHER!"

Fighting against? What the shell?

I thought back to what Raguel had said down below…. He had asked if I could fight, is this why?

The light faded off me and left black spots smouldering themselves into my vision. Blinking to clear them away, I watched the light head opposite me and hissed, my knuckles turning white as they gripped the metal, as I realised just where I was.

I'm holding onto netted metal, which explains why my fingers were able to fit through some of the holes. I'm in a circular pod, the area where my cell rose up and pushed me onto this platform, and there's thick wired metal netting lined with barbed wire both inside, out, and over where it's threaded between the cage. There's a door, and beyond it's a… an arena?

Yeah, definitely an arena. The floor's laid with dust and sand, and there's a rack on the far right that's got different weapons along it. From what I can tell there's no guns and no long range armaments. Just weapons that require hand to hand combat. My specialty. But it's been three long years since I fought anybody. Shell, I haven't so much as sparred back in the mines. Any form of physical exercise was forbidden. As far as the guards were concerned any and all exercise was done extracting the metal and minerals from the rockface, anything else was a threat against the guards and their wellbeing. Like I said before, these humans are cowards. They wouldn't risk us getting strong enough for an uprising.

Turning on the spot, I move past the bright light that's concentrated elsewhere and begin to define the centre of the noise. It had been difficult to find the source under the light's glare, and now I know why. There's humans here. Men. Lines and lines of them; all of them waving pieces of white paper and screaming and shouting in dirty sweat-stained uniforms that are untucked. They're sat up on benches a few feet away, like this is all some sport, yanno? Like this is a damn game of soccer and I'm a whole team. They're roaring, stamping their feet, spitting, snarling, laughing, driving a force that has my temper raging inside of me and my blood boiling. Along the outside is a thin path that goes right around the ring, and there's three men in armed military uniform, black on black, the colour of their hearts.

One stops by me, yells at me and I snapped like back in the mines. Leaping for the side of the cage, I threw my whole body against it and watched the metal quiver as the barbed wire stung. He withdrew, flinched, and I growled. They drew this out of me. I always had anger issues back home, but they make me howl for blood. Them! My fingers grasp at the metal of the cage, and I ignore the sharp sting as the blood begins to line the wire. They did this!

The man picks himself up, ignores my grinding teeth and scuttles round the side and towards the other end of the room. An armed officer replaces him as I watch him leave. The new guard raises the back of his gun, brings it up to his shoulder, and smashes it down against the cage where the wire shivers.

A warning. Most guards don't give those.

The metal continues to shake and quiver. Filled with resentment, I pull back. He nods to me and moves back down the path. The shouts don't follow him. They stay with me. To anger me. Break me. Make me boil and rise up so that I'll be rash in the fight that's coming. Because it is coming. I've seen cage fighting before and I'm not an idiot. This is a sport. A bastard's sport, but still a damn sport. And I'm the meat on the left wing. The sucker taking the punches and dishing them out.

A bell chimed twice and I turned back to face the front with tense shoulders. The light has dimmed completely now and the door in front of me just opened up. Aw, shell.

The thunder of voices became harder but over it I heard the faint clicking sound behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and spied the gun being aimed at the back of my head. Guess there isn't a choice here. Not that there ever used to be. The gun was lifted further until it lodged in the guard's shoulder and I was forced forwards. Passing under the door that led out into the centre of the ring was a challenge. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know who's out there. All I have is the name Bonecrusher, and that definitely doesn't sound promising.

The light dimmed down to a yellow glow and I took my first step out onto the sand. There's a smear of red over on the far right, but I try not to look at it. Tensing, the door opposite me began to slowly open. I bent my knees into a ready stance and waited, watching with squinted eyes. I don't want to hurt somebody else unless it's the humans that brought me here, but I'll be damned if I'm not gonna defend myself. If I knock them out the match will probably be cancelled, right? At the very least it should be put off or somethin'.

Taking deep, staggering breaths, I waited. The door jammed for a second, and in that brief moment something else caught my eyes. A turtle. Like me. But he's on the outside of the ring. He's wandering around, his eyes locked on me, and he's talking into a phone. I can't hear what he's saying over the din of noise, but every so often he stops, listens hard, and his eyes fall to the floor. Then he's back to walking and his eyes are on me. I feel sick. I almost expect the humans to be here after everything that's already happened, but another turtle like me? It's damn sick! It's wrong! All that crap Raguel said about us sticking together to overcome the humans and one of the first guy's I see is on their damn side!

_**THRUM!**_

The door's finally unjammed and it's slowly rising again. That turtle's making damn loops about me and it's irritating. He's distracting me and I can't afford that right now. It wouldn't have bothered me so much, but he's wearing a black mask identical to the one I used to wear. They took that from me along with everything else the moment they dragged me down to the mines. I don't know what happened to it…or my belt, or my sai's, or anything for that matter. They're all gone. Stripped back, bare, vulnerable, life's different.

The door's completely open now and I push the turtle on the phone to the back of my mind. I have to stay focused. I can't get distracted. If I can just knock this guy out then maybe I can rush the guards when they come to get him and try and get out of here...

* * *

I killed him.

It was an accident, I swear! He lunged at me with the metal bar he'd swiped from the rack and I couldn't move out of the way in time. The sai's had been my instinctive choice in weapon….He fell and I raised my hands up to stop him landing on me because the guy was huge, he would have crushed me…

I just forgot to retract the sai and place it into a defensive position. Guess I'm rusty….But the moment was so fast I missed it…and it…it went through him. Both of them. One through the heart and the other in the right shoulder. He was heavy. Damn heavy. And when he fell I knew, holding him up, that it was dead weight. Make's me tremble to remember it. Makes me feel weak. Remembering the warm blood makes me feel cold and his glazed eyes make me want to throw up.

It _was_ an accident. But still I killed him. Saying it was an accident won't change that fact. The fight had lasted forever and the humans _never_ stopped screaming. After the match they only got louder. The booming voice came back, and when I shoved his body off me the light returned. Everything afterwards is a blur. I remember dropping the sai's and catching a glimpse of the turtle with the black bandanna on the phone again with his head shaking. Guess he had a lot of money resting on the other guy winning. It hurts to know that it was me or him and that someone similar to us just watched whilst talking on the damn phone. We fought for ages, and I tried to knock him out, but I could never get close enough. He was always on the defensive. Pushing me away and leaping in after forcing me to stumble. Twice he had me pinned, and that's where I get confused.

The first time he had me pinned against the cage and the wire was cutting into the back of my legs, but then the turtle on the outside, the one with the black mask, he pushed back against the cage on the outer ring. It cut his hands up and he must have got a warning from the guards, but it shocked the guy I was fighting enough for me to duck away. The second time I know the guy on the phone had been threatened. I was pinned to the floor after a sloppy swipe had my bones on the verge of breaking, and out of nowhere he was in the ring, tackling my opponent to the ground and laying into him. I was shocked, but damn was it welcomed. He was dragged out of the ring after that.

But it doesn't make sense. If he did have a bet on Bonecrusher, then why did he help me once, let alone twice? What was in it for him? What did he have to gain?

Bonecrusher…what a stupid name. I wonder what that guy's real name was….Guess I'll never know.

I was hounded back into my cage by the three guards with guns. I don't remember them getting into the ring, just them pulling me up and shoving me away from the body on the ground and back towards my cage. I stumbled twice, but other than a few more bruises, a nasty scrape to my right arm and the cuts on the back of my legs where the wire dug in, I'm okay. Physically, that is. Mentally I'm a bit messed up.

The minute I was back in my cell it began to descend and the light was locked out. I fell into the cold. When the walls stopped moving and the ceiling ahead shut I leaned back against the brick and slid down the wall to rest by the cold concrete. That's where I am now. Just thinking and trying to block out the noise above. My blood is so hot, my skin is sweaty and my head's buried in my hands. I feel dirty, scummy, twitchy, jittery, as if my skin is crawling and-

"It is not your fault, Raphael."

I glance up to Raguel. How long has he been leaning against the bars of his cell for? He's watching me, his hands locked onto the metal tightly as he speaks with that cool deep tone. My head is back in my hands before I know it. "What the hell do you know? Bastard preacher…you didn't say…"

I swallowed. Didn't say what? Didn't say that I'd have to kill someone like me? Didn't say I'd come back with blood on my hands, that's if I came back at all?

"Would you have believed me, Raphael? I have been locked in this world for a long time. Speaking the truth by these walls only leads to disbelieving laughter. You are not the first young soul I have seen enter this prison. But you are one of the scarce few I have seen return. It can only be the Lord's wish that you live to see another day."

Bitter laughter escaped me. I don't mean it, but in some respects, I do. If that makes sense. "I haven't seen the sun in three years! If there's a God, why the shell is he punishin' me like this? What did I ever do but save people, huh?!"

"God works with the wonders of the universe, Raphael. Every good turn deserves another, as does every bad deed."

I grunt. What more can I say than that? My arm twitches and I can't uncover my face to stop it. I never was good with dealing with this kind of crap, and I'm not about to let Raguel see something I hid from my own family. I'm not gonna show emotion to any stranger.

I stayed quiet for a long time, and I guess that's why Raguel decided to speak up again. Shifting slightly, he spoke in the coolest whisper I've ever heard. It was so quiet that the drip down the corridor seemed to drown it out in frequent fades, but still he managed to be clear.

"Raphael, understand me, I am no man of chastising disbelief. I know reality. I embrace it. I am in this prison until the day I die. I have counted many deaths for my own survival. Hundreds. You are young, you have but one soul staining your life. Do not let it wash over you and choke you. Stand tall, Raphael! Live to see a tomorrow and treasure God's greatest gift; treasure life."

Looking up, I squint at him through the cell bars, and he isn't smiling anymore. "You're a hypocrite, yanno that?"

"How so?"

"You've just been on about honouring God's greatest gift, yet you've just said you've taken hundreds. What's the damn point?"

A smile was on Raguel's lips once more. "The point, Raphael, is that every life is very precious. The Lord gives us only the tools he believes we can use. He placed you here, beside me, for a reason. You are clearly lost, despite you being the herald for travellers-"

"I am not a damn archangel!"

"How do you know? You never asked your father the meaning of your name."

I stayed quiet. My hands curled into fists and I dug them slightly deeper against my head. This guy just doesn't give up.

"Raphael, for whatever purpose your name was given, you are lost, and you appear to have been struggling for some time with a greater force. It is tragic that these circumstances grip you, as it is tragic that it must happen to any soul. The Lord knows this, and in his salvation he will right all that the Devil has wronged. For now we must remain tall against the Devil's soldiers. We must fight for every breath, so that there is the hope of a tomorrow. Without that, more than just our lives would fall. I have taken hundreds of lives, Raphael, yes. However, I do so in the hope of saving thousands."

I frowned and mumbled through the skin of my hands. The blood's dried now and it itches, but I can't pull together the strength to rub it off. "You jus' said you ain't getting' out. How are ya gonna save people if you can't get out?"

Raguel smiled and leaned against the right wall so I couldn't see him. I think he did it just to piss me off though because he's smirking. I can't see him, but I just know he's smiling again. "Raphael, I know in my heart that I have done my best to inspire those around me in achieving something greater than personal gain. For the three hours that your match continued on I wondered if I should see you again."

"Three hours?! It was that long?"

"You came back. Do you remember what I told you before you entered the cage, Raphael? Do you remember my words of a revolution and the seclusion of our brotherhood being the vulnerable structures we have set ourselves upon? I may die within these walls, but you have the chance of freedom. You are still young. Fresh. Filled with spirit. You can accomplish so much. As you have said, your family is coming, and I will rest easily knowing that my words have been passed on through a survivor in one form or another. You may not choose to believe my words, Raphael, but I know you will do good in the world. You can only do good. If I manage to save one life through my teachings to you, the Lord will forgive me in my brash actions."

"Jeez, ya sure know how to pressure a guy, huh?"

"Is it pressure? Or is it belief?"

"I jus' said it's pressure, didn' I?"

"You did, but do you believe it?"

I groaned and rubbed at the sticky blood on my arm. "Raguel, I'm achin'. I'm hurtin'. I'm tired, I'm sore and I'm hungry. The last thing I wanna be talking about right now is killin' more people." I shivered at the last part, but I think he understood.

"Forgive me. It was insensitive of me to think of my own salvation when you sit suffering. I pray for your wounds to heal quickly before your next round."

"Thanks…I think."

"One last thing, Raphael."

The roar's above have started again and Raguel let his shoulder slump forwards before he rolled them back and pushed off the wall. He stopped before the bars and stared at me. Those onyx eyes searched my soul again and I scowled at him.

"I know it hurts to kill. I know, under the scrutiny of man's stare, that it is easy to break."

"I didn't-"

"I know that you did not break, Raphael. I have faith that you held on until the very end. The duration of your battle tells me so. You are a stronger being than me, Raphael. A much, much stronger being. There is a fire in you that has not yet been dashed. Do not let your cinders go out. Never let the fire die. When the light goes the darkness will spread and consume you faster than any monstrous strike by man's hands. Keep your flame alive, Raphael. Do not let the blood and spit bare down upon your spark."

_**K-CHINK!**_

I straightened up against the wall, standing on wobbling legs as my muscles seemed to clench and tear at each other for rest. But my cell wasn't the one moving. My eyes shot up from my own stationary walls to where Raguel was slowly ascending towards the light that had spread out above him. Like an angel called to heaven, his floor rose and pushed him upwards. But as it moved slowly, he unravelled some of the white and black beads from his left wrist. He threw them through the air with a short, stout, honest laugh, and my ingrained reflexes had me catching them with ease.

"Keep the fire alive, son! Don't ever let it burn out!"

The last I saw of him was his hands clenching as he jumped from foot to foot. Then his floor met the ceiling and he was gone. The light vanished with him, and I was left staring down at the white and black beads in my palm. They're old and faded, some of the paint has chipped and the thread is well worn. I'm not a big believer in faith and all that. I mean, I grew up in New York and living with my brothers, even though they never said it directly or intentionally, science and technology becomes easier to rely on than faith. But even though I don't believe in faith and a higher power, I put the beads on anyway...I'm not sure why.

The wails echoed back to me with the drip, the hauntings of the fight coming with the sniffles and cries as my own walls leaked blood. Both cages opposite me are empty now, and it feels colder and lonelier than it ever did before. At least in the mines when I was cramped into a small confined space with hundreds of bodies it was warm. Here there isn't even that. Just cold, depleting, solitary confinement. Raguel is gone and I don't know when he'll return, or if he even will…

With that thought I picked myself up and dragged a dry rock with me. Heading over to the wall on the right I scratched the rock down against it. Three words... Three numbers...

_Days: 1_

_Fight's: 1_

I paused before I started the next line. The rock grating against rock was hard to hear, but it was easier than listening to the sobs seeping through the stone.

_Kill's: 1_

I sat back down and waited, playing with the beads as the rock rested beside the painted wall. I waited for Raguel for a while and the screams above roared louder. It was when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer that there was the similar sound of the concrete floors moving and the light fluttered open before me once more. I wanted to stay awake, just to see if Raguel had made it back or if an empty cell had come down to greet me, but my body caved in and I couldn't help the unconscious wave that swept me away.

Hunched up in a corner, still holding onto the beads, I fell asleep, and went home for a few blissful hours before reality dragged me back once more.


	4. Name your price

It's been twelve days. I know because I've had twelve meals, if you can call them that I suppose. So there's twelve little white marks against the wall. Under them is the number of fights I've had….It's a bigger number. A much bigger number. Hurts to say the ones underneath match it. You know, the kills. Because if I don't end a fight the guards end it for me and the world becomes even more painful.

Raguel came back. At the time I woke up to him humming as he tried to stem the bleeding in his right leg. The guy's a freaking nut, but I'm kinda glad he came back…it makes this place a little bit more bearable to have someone to talk to I guess. He's been up to fight since then and it amazes me each time he comes back down. He almost always comes back with another wound but he doesn't hiss and moan. I'm lucky enough to say that other than the scrape on my arm, the healing bruises and the cuts on my legs there's not much else. You learn the trade quick in this place. The trick is to survive long enough to pick it up.

Sitting on the floor, it's hard to drown out the wails through the rock. I think Raguel notices too because he talks a lot, even if it's about nothing. And when he isn't talking he's humming. Guess that's his way of coping with it.

The guards don't pass often and I think it's because they don't have any real need to because there's no doors for us to escape out of. I think I've seen two patrols since I've been down here, and that was more them passing through and pointing their guns at us then them actually being on duty. Either way it doesn't matter. I'm glad there's no human's down here. Just seeing one of them make's my damn blood boil.

"Raphael, you are shaking again."

"Huh?" Blinking down at my lap, I looked up to where Raguel was watching me through the bars of his own cell.

He pointed at me and a small sad smile slipped onto the corner of his lips. "Your body, it is shaking."

Glancing at my arms I noticed he was right. It's faint, but it's there. Funny, I'm not cold. I mumbled a quick apology and he waved it away, as if he was used to seeing seventeen year olds shake with rage on a day to day basis.

"Do not worry, Raphael. We are all brothers down here, there is no need to feel shame and hide."

I frowned but let it drop. I only have three brothers. No matter what Raguel or any other idiot would try and have me think. I mean don't get me wrong, I admire the guy and I'm glad there's someone sane-ish to talk to, but I already have a family. I don't need any more than that.

The silence settled for a moment before it was stolen away by a sharp cry further down the corridor begging for mercy. There was the thick sound of a sword lodging itself in a hunk of flesh before it was ripped out and the roar above cheered louder. I flinched, closed my eyes and clenched my jaw. Waiting. The quiet came back eventually, and through it I found myself hearing my own deep breathing. My chest heaved and my muscles twitched in the eagerness to rip apart the crowd above. It scares me. Knowing that I want to kill them…it petrifies me. If given the chance I don't think I could hold back.

Raguel's humming again. I think it's some kind of hymn or prayer that he's long forgotten the words to. I don't know, and I'm not about to pry either, but he seems to like it. The notes are long and deep…I wonder if they're supposed to be like that or if it just comes out that way because he's got a deep voice.

Passing over him I stared at the empty cell directly opposite my own. It's been filled twice since I've been down here, once with a young guy a little older and taller than me and the other with a skinny fox mutant well into his late thirties. I'm not surprised about seeing other races here because I was used to it back in the mines, but I think turtles are the most common. I see more of them than any of the others. Looking into that cage the red splatters staining the wall and the floor catch my eye and I'm reminded about just where I am and why that cell's empty.

Tearing my eyes away, I stared numbly at my hands. The cell next to mine clicks through the brick and I can hear it turning. Heading up and out. I can't see into the cell, but Raguel can. He's spoken to the guy on the other side of the wall, but to me it was just a voice. Nothing more. There was no feeling attached to the prospect that it was actually a life. Another shiver ran through me at the idea of what I'd just thought and realised and it made me feel sick.

Raguel stopped humming. His eyes shot up for a moment to the cage before they caught mine. He shook his head slowly, as if it's heavy, and I knew instantly. My neighbour isn't coming back. The weight in my heart feels heavier and it sinks a little. The scraping of the brick stops and the cheers overtake once more. Raguel doesn't hum again. Instead he sits and listens, and I sit with him, and we wait in the silent weeping hall as the cheers thunder on and vibrate through the rock.

Ten minutes later the click came from the cell next door and it slowly returned. Raguel's eyes glance upwards, widen ever so slightly in shock, and then he looks to me, shakes his head again, and falls back against the wall. My neighbour didn't come back.

I wonder what shocked him so much that he let me see it across his face. So far, apart from that scattered glance, he hasn't shown any kind of fear at all. Just self-restraint and strict composure. It's almost as if he doesn't want me to see it because he thinks it's a weakness, and even though he claims we're all brothers down here, if we go up together only one of us can come back down. So far he's been more of a friend than anything else, but if he gets in the way of me and my chance to go home…

I gagged at my own thought and I think he mistook it as a reflex to the idea that my neighbour no longer walks with the living. I looked down to my wrist where the black and white beads rest against the crusted red blood. I tried to give them back to Raguel when he first returned, but he told me to stop acting foolish and to keep them. I don't get what the big deal is with them. They're just beads. But then again, I guess in this place where everyone has nothing they're a lot more than _just_ beads. To Raguel anyway.

The sound of footsteps reverberated down the corridor, overshadowing the cries and the shouts that brought pain and pleasure together in a chaotic battle. The shouts dimmed a little and another click could be heard further down the corridor where the next soul is sent up to fight for survival. They grew louder. A lot louder. I glanced to Raguel and he's frowning, standing slowly. Something isn't right. He knows it like me. Guards never walk down here bar the odd exception, and even then they never walk past our section of the hallway. I think it's because there's no exit this way. If you come down here you'd have to double back on yourself. So then why are the footsteps getting closer?

I mimicked Raguel and stood. He motions over to me with a sly wave of his hand and sinks into the shadows at the back of his cage. Think that's my cue to copy him, but I want to know who's coming down our section of the corridor. If a human passes within reaching distance I think I might just-

"S-sir, are you sure about-"

"I said yes, didn't I?!"

I tilted my head to the side ever so slightly. I can't see the two speakers, but the second one definitely sounds more confident and aggressive than the first.

"B-but, sir-"

"Fuck sake! Shut up already and just take me to the cell, will ya? I'm sick and tired of you humans."

'You humans'? Just who the hell is coming down the corridor? I stepped back from the bars of the cell and waited, slightly tense. They're probably going to keep walking and go secure some poor sucker towards the end of the line.

The footsteps finally closed in on my cell and I growled when a weedy guard in camouflaged attire appeared before me. His gun's in his hand and he's pointing it at me threateningly, but he's shaking and the sweat is just rolling off him. He must be a new recruit they want to harden up or something. The gun meets my eyes and I growl again, stiffening my shoulders as he stumbled back and landed on the floor. In any other situation I would have laughed to see a human guard fall flat on his arse, but the gun's still pointed at me and something else caught my eyes.

Stepping into my line of vision was the black masked turtle from my first fight, and now that he's fairly close I can get a decent look at him. He's about my build, but he hasn't got as much muscle. There's a nasty dint in the top right of his plastron and he's got a deep black scar running from the top left of his jaw down to the bottom of his neck, as if he's been slashed. Down his right arm is a long black tribal tattoo made out of letters, but it's not English and I can't read it. The only attire he wears is a belt lined with knives of all types and a black bandanna, and the scratch in his voice combined with his appearance gives him a ruthless first impression.

He scoffed at the human on the floor and a cynical smirk played on his lips, tugging at the scar. "Stupid humans. None of you ever get anythin' right, do you?" Folding his arms, he turned to look into my cell and immediately the smile disappears. He stares at me, molten gold eyes judging me and weighing me like a piece of meat at the local market, and then he kicks the guard on the floor lightly and points at me. "This him?"

The guard by his feet stutters and shies away from the turtle before me. For a moment I was stupefied. Every other person like me, every other mutant, I've seen beaten down by the humans and what they can do. By what they have done and will do. But this guy in front of me has the human on his knees and reeling way from him like I used to. I used to have all of them running for their dart guns…guess they drained it out of me over time.

"Y-y-yes-yes, sir."

The turtle with the black bandanna grunts and turns back to me. But when he speaks it's clear he's talking to the guard by his feet; the one struggling to stand and desperate to be away from the scarred turtle. "Tell your boss I want to have a word with him. It'll be worth his while."

The guard stood. "A word…sir?"

The scratch in the scarred turtle's mouth was rougher and I almost felt sorry for the human on the floor. But then the bars of my cell reminded me of where I was again and all sympathy vanished.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you the boss?"

The guard trembled at the dripping sarcasm. "N-no-"

"No?" The scarred turtle turned to the guard, one eyebrow raised, and let the word drawl of his tongue.

"I er…I'll just go-go get er…"

I watched with slight amusement as the guard scuttled around the guy in front of me before he legged it down the corridor. Seriously, I don't think I've seen a human run so fast. But I didn't smile. I couldn't because I didn't know what was going on. Raguel stayed hidden, and I think he's observing more than anything else.

The scarred turtle sighed as if tired, rubbed his temples, and proceeded to pull something out of his belt. The movement was sudden and out of instinct I advanced, tensed, and growled. He didn't so much as flinch. Instead he continued pulling out a small black phone, and looked up at me.

"Name's Kainat. Call me Kai"

I didn't answer. This turtle is on the _other_ side of my cell. The bad side. The side where the humans are. Why the hell should I trust him?

As if reading my mind, he rolled his eyes, flicked open the old fashioned phone and continued drawling on in a bored tone as if he'd done it a million times before. "Long story short, I'm looking for someone. Or we are, anyway." He waved the statement away and raised the phone, leaning against the side of my cell with a bored expression as he waited.

I had half a mind to shove him hard away from me or bring him back and choke him. I didn't doubt that I could do it, but it would just lead to more trouble. But when has that ever stopped me? Making up my mind to set Kai straight I stomped forwards. But then he said something, and my whole world numbed in frozen disbelief.

"Hey, Leo? Can ya hear me…...? Yeah, think I got him. Uh-huh…...No, really this time…...Hey, that was an accident! Why do you always have to bring that up?"

Leo? My brother Leo? He's here? Well, on the other side of that phone or whatever but still, it's a step closer to home than what I did have. I felt myself shaking slightly, but this time it wasn't out of anger or pain, this time it was because I was scared. Scared that hope was so close yet so far. I mean, Leo is a common nickname, right? What if it's not him? What if it's someone else or something worse and-

"Yo!"

I snapped out of my daze as the black phone was waved back and forth in front of me. Kai rolled his eyes again and pushed the phone further towards me through the bars in the cell.

"Yo, daydreamer, snap out of it already. Leo want's ta talk to ya." I swallowed and he retracted the phone slightly, his eyes narrowing. "You can speak, right?"

I nodded, my throat too dry to answer. I held the phone delicately, afraid its fragile structure would break in my hands after I broke so many lives. Kai grunted and released the phone. Raising it slowly, I listened to the static crackle and buzz fearlessly.

"'Lo?"

It was all I could manage. I haven't seen my brother in three years and there's the possibility he could be on the other end of the damn phone and all I can say is 'lo? God, I'm such an idiot. There was a long pause where my heart was in my mouth and the world seemed to fade in and out of my sight before there was an answer.

"_Raph? Raph that you_?"

It was Leo. His voice was crackly but clear. I choked back the sob inside me and covered my eyes with my other hand, blocking everything out but my brother's voice. I tried talking again but my voice was too raw. So I coughed and started again.

"Yeah. Yeah, bro, it's me. What…? What…?"

I couldn't say anymore. On the other side of the phone Leo was laughing, not cocky and abrasive, but relieved and concerned. I listened him thank every God on the planet at least twice and realised I was grinning like an idiot. Lowering my hand, I watched Kai cross his arms and smile as Raguel stepped out of the shadows, grabbed hold of the bars of his cell, and offered me the smallest shred of a smile.

"_Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are-"_

"Leo, I'm fine. Really." I laughed and opposite me Kai snorted. "What about you? Are you-"

"_I'm fine, Raph."_

The smile was set on my face and I don't think anything could remove it. "Where are you? What's going on?"

There was the sound of more crackling and my heart wrenched to think I might have lost the connection before Leo's voice came back.

"_Raph, don't worry. I'm going to fix everything. Put Kai back on a minute."_

I was reluctant to pass over the phone and I guess Leo must have sensed it.

"_Trust me, Raph. I'm not going anywhere."_

Heaving a heavy breath I handed the phone back to Kai through the cell. Kai took it and grinned, his scar stretching as he pushed off my cell bars and let out a scratchy laugh.

"See? What I tell ya? I know what I'm doing…Just get Kaden to cover…...yeah, I'm gonna see how much now…" Kai sighed, leaning back against my cell as I watched him. He had my full attention now.

"No, they never said…...It can't be _that_ much, right?...right….right…...thing's will just be tight for a while. But you'll have to call Serena and make sure she keeps check on that other bro of yours until we can fork out the cash…"

Other bro? One of my other brothers is in this hellhole too? My heart sank immediately at the thought of Mikey or Donny being trapped in a cage like mine. Mikey and Donny are too innocent and good-natured to be in this world. Desperate for an answer, I went to snatch the phone back from Kai before-

_**K-CHINK!**_

The sound tore through me. My time was up. The floor started pushing me upwards and Kai pushed off the wall, a growl ripping from his throat. He watched as the light above pooled open and the cheers swamped down on us.

"Leo, I'm gonna have to call you back!"

The phone was snapped shut and I watched him stomp over to the guard that was running our way with an older grunt hot on his heels. He picked the smaller guard up and before I could blink he had a knife grazing the human's throat, drawing a red line. They were yelling at each other, between each other, and I was forgotten as I began to make my way up into the madness.

_**K-CHINK!**_

The noise mirrored in front of me and I watched as Raguel's cage was also thrown into the spotlight. He looked to me, his body tense, and I knew what it meant instantly. No matter how close I am to freedom, I still have one obstacle to overcome. Friendship. Raguel had mentioned before that he wasn't strong enough to face death. That he could and would break under the human's glares….That means only one thing for me.

He refused to face me as we were thrown upwards into the light. Refused to look at me. I watched as Kai threw the guard aside and began sprinting away from my cell and back the way he had come. If he has any sense he'll get the shell out of here before they decide my empty cell needs filling. Because my cell will go back down empty. I'm positive of that. I can't face a friend in a fight. Not and kill them anyway. I thought back to what I had been thinking earlier, about how I would do anything to go home…why is it that even though I've said it, I don't think I'll be able to do it? I was so determined to let nothing stop me getting home, but now…

I was finally thrown upwards into the chanting roar of the crowd. The blinding light called my fighting name and the guards did their usual rounds, sweeping past me in my cage and screaming insults to build up my rage. The light was blinding, the raging crowd roared, and then the light vanished and betrayed me for the entrance of Raguel.

This time he met my eyes. Stared at me through the light. Onyx eyes flickered left. Flickered right. Caught the crowd and narrowed ever so slightly. He was wounded. I had the advantage. When the gates opened we would be thrown out to play, and only one of us would be walking back to the empty cells below.

The speaker roared over the crowd, announcing the fight. I stepped forwards. Raguel matched me. Together we were separated by the ring and the flimsy barbed wire that marked our doors. Then they opened. The light dulled. And we were thrown out.

I walked out cautiously, stepped sideways and never took my eyes away from Raguel's. He's bigger than me. Stronger. I have to keep my distance. I made it to the wrack on the far right as he made it to the one on the far left. My body still faced him as I reached my hands back and secured the sai's in my hands. I watched him pick up a club – large, spiked and heavy. Built to do damage. My grip tightened and my rage built up.

My heart beat so fast I feared it was going to come through my chest. My blood flowed with new found energy and the adrenaline blinded me from anything and everything beside Raguel. He stepped forwards, club in hand. He tapped it against the ground twice, tested its weight in a swing, and then he threw it down.

My bafflement must have spread across my face because the next time I looked up he was smiling at me. Laughing at me. He turned to the crowd and gave them a bow, mocking them. They took it badly and soon they were screaming for his blood. He bowed again and I heard my name being chanted to finish the one who wouldn't attack me.

But it didn't make sense. He had said he would kill me. Had said he would end me and finish me if we were ever thrown into the ring because he wasn't strong enough. And now here we are. But he won't fight me? Why? Because he finally knows I'm telling the truth about having a family? Because I'm getting out of here? No. That can't be it.

He's finally turning to face me now and he's still smiling. Holding his arms out, he closes his eyes and waits for me. What does he expect me to do? Does he want me to run him through and slice him open like a butcher shop pig? No. I can't do that. I thought I could have done it like all the others but…

I threw my sai's down by his club.

His eyes opened at the soft _k-tink_ and I smirked at him. Following his approach, I gave him his bow and watched him return it. The human's howled louder and the guards began to enter the cage. Suddenly Raguel had his club back and he was holding my sai's out to me, handle first. I took them and we turned back to back against the guards that entered. I took the ones on the left, he took the ones on the right. The first wave went down easily. A few hits in the right place sent them sinking to the sand in crippled pain.

It's weird. Their blood looks just like ours on the sand. So why is it more barbaric to kill a human?

The second wave was harder. I took a nasty knock to my left leg but I didn't have time to check it out. Raguel was thrown back against me and suddenly the blood bath is so deep we're stepping on fallen human body parts just to keep our heads afloat in the sea of red.

The third wave was when Raguel fell. He sank to one knee in front of me, gripping his side as it dripped red whilst he swung his bat out and took out the legs of all nearby. I wavered over him, trying to drag him upright before something sharp bit me in the arm. I was thrown back slightly, and I gripped the area where the bullet had dug its way in like a maggot in my flesh. Raguel fell forwards and another shot had me falling to my knees.

I was shaking, trembling, enraged and fuelled but weak and needing the energy that had fled from me. My world faded in and out between the black and the thunderous screams had become so loud there was a ringing sound in my ear. More guards flooded in and I threw my sai's at them. One landed in the throat of the first guard through the door and the other sank deep into the forehead of another. Neither got back up.

I was on my knees, panting and shivering. Unarmed, I watched a guard stand in front of me, gun pointed at my chest. He screamed something, but the ringing was so loud I couldn't hear. He shoved me down with the end of the gun and screamed it again. I laughed. I can't hear a damn word he's saying. Hocking up whatever was in my mouth I spat it at him as my last attack. He wiped the deep red liquid from his face and cocked his gun, prepared to shoot.

Then Kai was back. He's sweaty and out of breath, but he manages to throw a knife and land it in my assaulter's throat. The guy gags as the fountain squirts and then he's down by my feet in a crumpled heap. Kai weaves through the other guards and picks up the gun, standing over me and screaming at them. But the damn ringing is too loud. I still can't hear what he's saying. He flashes them his tattoo, screams something else, motions behind himself to me and then points at an unconscious Raguel.

Someone steps out of the shadows and the guards part. I teetered forwards dangerously and managed to shove myself back. The cheering has stopped fully now, I know because nobody's mouths are moving, not even the crowd's, but I still can't hear any of them.

My vision blurred dangerously and slowly the ringing faded. I started teetering again and this time I couldn't stop myself falling forwards. I landed hard in the sticky red sand and listened to the last scratchy words I heard before I blacked out.

"I said we'll take them! Name your price!"


	5. The ranch

I ached over. That's the first thing I noticed coming to. My left arm was on _fire!_ I gritted my teeth and attempted to bare down on the pain as the ground rumbled beneath me. I winced as the ground shook brutally and I groaned and clung to my arm when it knocked against something hard. But I didn't open my eyes. I couldn't. Not yet. I didn't wanna wake up to find those grimy walls moving as I'm forced up to face my next fight.

_Maybe if I just pretend to be asleep they'll cancel the whole thing and I can skip this one…_

"Kai! Take it easy, will ya? You keep hitting the road like that and there's gonna be more casualties-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Sarai."

I froze. My muscles tensed against my will and there was something odd about the situation that my brain only just managed to register. If I was still underground in the arena, who the hell was the girl that's speaking? And what the hell was she talking about a road for? And why was Kai here? At least I knew that I definitely wasn't dreaming the other day, and the pain's proof that I wasn't imagining those bullets… so what the hell's going on?

The female voice was closer to me… Almost beside me, but not quite.

"It won't be whatever when you have to explain to the others-"

"You wanna switch places?"

Kai's voice was further away and ahead of me. The girl fell quiet and she sighed slightly, almost like the fight had been taken outta her.

"Kai, that's not fair. You know I'm not allowed to-"

"Then don't you think you should just let me get us home in one piece? So what if there's a few more bumps and bruises? I think they'll be more bothered about the bullet wounds than the baby cut they might get from this."

"If we can prevent further injury then surely-"

"There's nothing to prevent, Sarai. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get 'em settled and the sooner I can get back to work."

Another sigh came from the girl beside me, and it's pretty clear now that her name's Sarai. I haven't heard from anyone else; and I wondered if Raguel was nearby, maybe unconscious somewhere, or if he had been left behind in the fighting pits.

"All you ever think about is work…"

"Hey, you wanna go home, don't ya?"

"Yeah, but you guys could take a day off sometime."

Kai seemed sterner when he next spoke, as if this was a sensitive topic they discussed a lot. "Sarai, a day here doin' nothing is a day wasted. The sooner we get the money together and get everybody sorted the sooner we can jump this sinkin' ship."

"I was just thinking-"

"Sarai, I appreciate the concern, but seriously, it's misplaced." Kai sighed and there was something broken in it. "I'm not losing anybody else because we were too late. It's hard, but it's worth it."

"Yeah…worth it…"

"We got your brother out, didn't we?"

"Only because you thought he was this guy."

Something shuffled beside me and those worn down instincts me and my brothers spent so long honing kicked in. I didn't move, but I knew that the conversation had just turned my way.

"Don't pick points." Kai scolded, and the girl huffed beside me. "At the end of the day we got ya both out before anything happened. Count yourself lucky."

"If I may interject for a moment." That was Raguel. His voice was huskier than I remembered and drawn out, but it was definitely him. I'm not ashamed to say I was glad that he's here, that he wasn't left behind.

"Do you have to? Sarai, I thought you said you'd hooked this guy up with some morphine or somethin'?"

"Kai! Don't talk like that." Sarai whined, and I started to think that she's a lot younger than I first thought. I just automatically assumed she was the same age as me, but taking from her last tone I wasn't so sure anymore. "Was there something you wanted to say, Raguel?"

"Yes, I understand that you have gone to great lengths to free both myself and Raphael. I would like to thank you for your concern with the wellbeing of others placed in a position similar to one you yourself have experienced. Both of you. You have my deepest thanks and if there is any way I can perhaps make up the debt-"

"You got twenty eight thousand hidden in your pocket?"

"Kai! Stop being rude!"

Sarai's voice was so shrill I was gritting my teeth against it as the headache began to creep up on me.

"Twenty eight thousand?" Raguel repeated, and I had to admit I was more than a little confused myself.

"Twenty eight thousand." Kai stated, and there was a bite to his voice that I didn't like. He sounded beyond pissed. "That's how much ya cost me and mine. That's just you. Sleepin' beauty burned a hole in my pocket too."

_Was that supposed to be funny?_

"I apologise. Of course, I'd be happy to make up the debt owed to you, as I'm sure Raphael would be too."

_The hell?_

Since when did Raguel appoint himself my personal speaker? Like hell I'll be paying this twat back. Yeah, he saved my life. Yeah, I'm grateful. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna take orders from someone who has the power to buy and sell lives and then demand the money back.

"No, we couldn't accept." Sarai said, and I liked her attitude a bit more than Kai's.

Kai grunted from somewhere ahead of me and there was another vicious bump in the journey. Guess he didn't quite like Sarai's suggestion, but he didn't disagree with her either.

"Yeah, we don't take money from people. You'll be working with Sarai and the others at the ranch until your side heals. Then we take ya up to earn some real money."

"Real money?" Raguel repeated, and I'm even more interested than before. I had thought it would be a simple get up, pay 'em back, get out. I didn't think there'd be any labour involved.

_I know Leo's here, and one of my younger brothers too, but we can bust them out between us. We could be outta this place in no time and then we can go home and I can forget everything that's happened. Things can go back to how they were._

Sarai was the one who explained.

"You see, us slaves don't earn the average rate of pay. It's complicated, but-"

"It's a private matter." Kai bit across. Grumpy little traitor that he was. "And it's gonna stay that way, Sarai."

"But, Kai!"

"No, Sarai. Not yet. We heal 'em up, they earn their keep, then they get to know. Not beforehand. It's too risky."

_Sounds like Kai has a secret_. _No wonder he's on edge. But what's with all this 'slave' crap? Since when did I earn a name like that?_

"Am I to understand that there is misgivings afoot?"

"No, you are to shut your mouth, let your wounds heal, and work. What you don't know doesn't hurt you, and it's better that way."

Raguel didn't say anything after that. The group fell silent and I took that as my cue to open my eyes and pretend I was just waking. I didn't try moving too much at first, mostly because I couldn't. Sitting up was a real chore, and the grunts escaped me before I had a chance to register they were in me.

My eyes were still closed when soft hands came out to help me. Out of instinct I slapped them away, and there was the shocked sound of a gasp. But I didn't care. Sitting up, I rubbed at my temple and opened my eyes. I had to blink two or three times to stop the world from being fuzzy, but after that it came clear inta focus and my hand fell down to cradle my arm.

I'm in the back of some kind of truck, and by the looks of it I'm in a make-shift cot of some kind. The truck's a dark green, and overhanging it, instead of a solid metal roof, there's a thick fabric canopy that's been tied down at the edges through these little metal hoops. Ahead of me, looking back at me with that black mask through the rear-view mirror, was Kai. His tattooed arm was thrown over the back of his seat, and there was a smirk on his face.

I ignored him and turned my attention to the other two occupants cramped in the back of the truck. Raguel rested on the bed opposite me, his midriff covered in white bandages that were spotted red ever so slightly, but he's sitting up and smiling. Guess that's a good sign.

Then there's Serai; the girl from before. She wasn't the same age as me. Definitely not. Judging by her size and frame, she's about thirteen or fourteen…definitely no older than fifteen. She's another turtle, slim and slender, brown hair curled slightly and falling down to her elbows with a full fringe and budding breasts covered by her plastron. Her hair's held back by some yellow headband and her eyes were an ice blue. She smiled, smaller than Raguel's and softer than Kai's.

"You feeling okay?"

My eyes fell down to my arm and then back up to her. "That a joke?"

Shelaughed and brushed my words away, looking up to Kai. He wasn't looking at us no more. His eyes were back on the road and his fingers clutched the steering wheel tightly.

"He's fine, Kai! Looks like Leo's gonna be chuffed."

"Leo?" The name escaped me and those bright blue eyes snapped back to me. Confusion lined her forehead as I swung my legs round and faced her head on. "You know him?"

"Yeah…" She's apprehensive, as if she thinks she's said the wrong thing. She backed away from me, still kneeling on the floor, and her shell touched the edge of Raguel's bed. "He's a friend of ours…why?"

"They're brothers, Sarai." Kai shouted back, eyes still on the road. "This one's Raph."

My eyes snapped from Sarai up to Kai. My hands clenched into fists and I tried to take a deep breath. "How the hell do you know me? How did you know where to find me?"

Kai shrugged, waving his free hand as if to blow off my words. "Leo talks about you. A lot." He laughed, but I didn't find it funny. "As for knowing where to find you, we didn't. Lucky guess I suppose."

"Luck had nothing to do with it. This was God's work." Raguel spoke up again. I glanced over to him, my head tilted slightly. He seemed big back in the cells, but down here in the confinements of this little truck, he seemed _huge. _

_It ain't normal for a guy to be that big._

"Don't you start up with that crap again." I muttered, and he took it in his stride.

Laughing, he leaned back against the cold truck walls and pushed his head against the steel. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. "It is not 'crap', Raphael. You are named after your namesake. The archangel Raphael was to aid travellers. I was a traveller on the road locked up in the darkness. It is not for nothing that meeting you has led me to freedom."

Sarai blinked between us, completely confused, and I didn't blame her.

"You're talkin' crap, Raguel."

"I am talking sense."

"You're both givin' me a headache." Kai muttered, and I shot him a glare. Doubt he saw it, but that's beside the point.

Before anyone else could speak there was the sound of a faint jingle and Kai moved around in the front. He leaned over to the passenger seat and picked up that little black phone of his. Flicking it up, he held it to his ear.

"Driving. Sarai!"

I'm not fuckin' kidding, that was all the guy said. With the phone still flipped up he threw it into the back. Sarai jumped up and caught it, seeming quite happy with herself with the action before she kneeled back on the floor.

"Hello, Kai's phone, Sarai speaking…Oh, hi! Yeah…yeah…" Her eyes flicked over to me and her smile widened. "Yep, he's here, all patched up and-"

"That Leo?" I cut across her and she jumped when I reached my hand out towards her. I think I scared her a little with the fast movement cuz she curled in on herself and edged closer to Kai's seat. Kai's eyes were back on me in the mirror, watching me as if he thought I was gunna do something to her. As if.

Quivering like a leaf, she shook her head at me. "No, no it's my brother Kaden."

"Oh…" I pulled my hand back and slouched against the truck. It took her a while to recover, but when she did she was smiling again and being her optimistic self. I wonder what made her flinch so badly.

"No, I'm fine, Kaden, honest. I just got a little spooked is all… so where is he now?" Her smile fell slightly and her hand began to trail circles against the truck floor. I raised an eye-ridge, but she never turned my way and Raguel pressed a finger to his lips. As if I needed reminding to stay quiet.

Sarai's eyes fell. "Oh, so he's still not back? Do you know when… That long? What if he travels through…? Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, I'll tell him. Bye."

She hung up. The phone was snapped shut and she raised on unsteady feet to pass it back to Kai through the small but wide opening at the front of the truck. She took a moment to stand there, letting out another sigh as she held tight to the frames of the opening, and now I was well and truly confused. Guess Kai picked up on it too because he turned his questions on her.

"Something wrong?"

Sarai smiled, but we all saw through it. "It was Kaden. Leo still hasn't made it back down. He got held up with Adrienne. I asked if they could travel through the night, but-"

"It's too dangerous." Kai finished. Through the rear-view mirror I could see his scowl harden. "They'll have to wait 'til sunrise before they think of travelling further."

"That's what Kaden said. The earliest they'll be able to make it is tomorrow afternoon. They're gonna miss us coming back, and Kaden is just leaving now with Antonio and Fay."

"What's goin' on?" I interjected. This had something to do with Leo, _my_ brother. By all rights it should be me they're talking to about it, instead of shimmying through it themselves.

Neither of them spoke so I pressed them for an answer. "I said, what's goin'-"

"Nothing." Kai snapped.

Sarai made her way back to the middle of the floor and kneeled down, keeping silent. I stared hard at Kai as he kept his eyes on the road, but eventually he spoke up again.

"It's nothin'." He repeated. "Just…it's complicated. We'll make it back tonight, Leo'll meet us there in the morning. That's it. There's nothin' else to it."

"There's something you're not tellin' me."

"No, there's not. We'll be home in about twenty minutes, just gotta pass these fields and make our way down the track and we'll be there. We'll sort you out tonight, Leo'll be back tomorrow, everything will be fine."

I didn't move off the subject. "There's something you're not telling me."

He didn't answer. Whether he couldn't or didn't want to, I couldn't tell, either way he didn't say another word. None of us did. The rest of the journey was quiet, even Raguel didn't pressure any of us to talk, and he hated the silence. I sat and played with the beads Raguel had given me, looking out the front window from time to time as I glared at Kai.

There's just fields. Wherever we're headed, it's somewhere remote. Field upon field of nothin' but plants and animals. The road Kai followed must be pretty beaten because we kept jumping all over the place in the back. Sarai flinched every time we hit a bump and Raguel curled in on himself a little and clutched his side, but still nobody spoke. Guess I plucked a nerve.

About half an hour later I was staring at the floor, still fiddling with those damn beads, when Kai stopped the truck. I glanced up to him, and he just stayed seated for a moment, his eyes on the dashboard.

"We're home." He didn't smile as he said it.

Sarai jumped up and clapped her hands together before she made her way to the back of the truck. She undid the bolts and the back fell outwards. The sunlight poured in. Both me and Raguel shielded our eyes from it after so long of being in the dark.

It felt weird. It's the one thing I'd been craving for so long and now here it was blinding me. I couldn't stand to look out as the light burned so brightly. Sarai jumped out, happy to be out of the stuffy truck and in the open air. I couldn't see where she went after she left the truck, and I had to bring my uninjured hand up to cancel out the sun's glare.

There was the slam of a side door and I knew Kai had jumped out. I could hear Sarai giggling, and there was the slam of another door, this time further away from us. I winced and glanced across to Raguel. By this point he was nothing more than a dark blur across my vision, but I knew he was mirroring my actions.

"I never though the light could burn so brightly."

I grunted at him. "Spendin' a lifetime in the dark does that kinda thing ta ya."

He heaved a heavy sigh at my comment and he might have shook his head. The door further away from us was slammed again and there was the sound of feet stomping their way across gravel. A shadow appeared in the entrance, blocking out the sun, and I squinted up to see Kai handing both me and Raguel something. Raguel took his instantly, but I took a little longer to grasp at what was being offered.

The fabric was blood red and torn along the edges. It had faded slightly in spots, but was well worn. The edges were cut and ripped like shredded ribbon, and there was the faintest of orange smudges that I recognised with a heavy heart. It was my mask alright, even if I couldn't see it properly and outright. The rips had come from all the fighting and negligence, but the orange smears… that came from Mikey. The little idiot had tried colouring my mask the same as his when he'd wrecked his last one… Damn, memories hurt.

I glanced up at Kai, but he was gone. The sun tore into me again as I tied on my mask. It's been so long, but my fingers still knew how to tie it, even if my wounded arm ached like hell. The ends fell over my shoulder and I let out the heaviest breath I've ever held. I smiled. I couldn't help it. Having my identity back was blissful. It built me up slightly, gave me something to fight for.

There was something else Kai had given me, and I realised with a hollow laugh that they were sunglasses. The lenses were a deep black, and the edges were a light blue. Squinting out at the sun and the fuzzy shapes, I placed them on and hooked them over the mask to keep them in place. The difference was immediate. Everything was a darker shade, and I could see so much more clearly.

Sarai smiled at us from outside the truck, and I gave her a small half-smile back. Turning back to Raguel, I grinned and shook my head to find that Kai had given him something similar. It looked like he had been loaned one of Kai's black masks, and over them he had dark grey and black tinted sunglasses. I was still smiling as I stood and made my way over to the exit of the truck. I still didn't know where I was, and I hadn't heard back from Leo. I just wanted to check things out.

Seeing me climbing out, Sarai jumped back in the truck and began to help Raguel. I stepped out over the cold line of the truck and into the heat of the sun. It felt so…different. I don't know how to describe it. Like having a hot soak after a day in the cold rain, I guess. It was nice. Real nice. And I've missed it…

I jumped down from the truck with shaky legs and clung to my aching arm. The bandages were weeping slightly, but I didn't care. I was too busy looking around.

The trail was just earth, like I thought it would be, and it led off in six different directions. One direction leads outwards, back the way we came, and the other five I'm guessing lead to the surrounding fields that are padded by fences. There was a large barn over on the right, its door open. There's a load of animal noises coming from inside, y'know; horses, chickens, sheep, that kinda thing. Then there's the house. It was pretty big, I guess. Two stories high with about four bedrooms on the upper floor and however many rooms downstairs. It looked simple. Nothing too fancy, nothing too plain. Just simple. It was what it was, and that's a house. What else do you want me ta say about it?

The whole thing reminded me of Casey's grandma's house, and the subject of him and April brought up a ton of feelings I'd been hoping to bury. Them and my brothers and Master Splinter… Just thinking about 'em dredged up shit I didn't wanna deal with.

"So, what do you think?"

I turned back to the barn to where Kai was making his way towards me. He stopped a few feet away, his arms folded as he waited for my answer.

I shrugged. "It's simple."

He let out a bark of laughter and smiled. "Come on, there's someone I think you'll wanna meet."

He walked off and I was left questioning whether or not I should follow him. I glanced over my shoulder to where Raguel was being helped out of the truck by Sarai and made up my mind. I followed Kai down the second path to the left. It was dusty and the sun was a lot hotter than I can remember it ever being in New York…which brought me back to another topic. Kai wasn't kidding when he said this place was a ranch. There's fields everywhere, and most of them were filled with cattle and horses. The place is huge, and beside the picket fences and the rusty gates there's nothing ta stop me from high-tailing that truck when Leo returned and getting us outta here. After we saved my other brother, we could head home. We didn't have to stay.

Kai didn't look at me once while we were making our way down the path. It was too narrow for the truck to make its way down, which explained why we're on foot. And I'm not sure how, but he knew what I was thinking without me having ta say anything.

"That's a bad idea," he called from three feet in front of me.

I held on tighter to my wounded arm and continued to follow him. "What?"

"Running." He said the word with a bitter laugh. "We've all been there and thought about it at least once, but you won't get far before they drag you back, and there ain't gonna be no way we can come get you again."

"They?"

"The humans." He stopped by a wide metal gate and began to unravel the chains binding it to the post. Swinging it open we both walked through it before he locked it back up. The field was about an acre long, quiet but not empty. There's about sixteen horses, black and white and spotted and chestnut and beige and grey. Why they bothered keeping 'em, I'm not sure.

I turned back to Kai as he locked the fence. "Humans? What are ya talkin' about?"

He straightened up and leaned back on the fence for a minute, looking me up and down like he was trying to figure out if I was playing with him or not. After a minute he kicked off the wall and started making his way through the field, cutting straight across. I followed and the horses didn't move for us. Guess they're used to people cutting through or something.

"The humans run the game, Raph. Better to make sure you've got a strong hand before you place your chips down. These humans aren't like the people back at your home…they're different."

"Different?" I thought back to the humans down in the fighting pits screaming and yelling for blood, and then back to the humans in New York. The rival street gangs and the thugs and the Shredder and the Foot… "Humans are all the same." It was my conclusion, he wouldn't shift me on that.

He shrugged as if he wasn't interested and we made our way into the longer grass by the back of the field. The grass here was so long it rose up past my knees, and it felt good to feel something different besides sand and rock.

"Believe what you want, I'm just here to make sure you do what you're supposed to do."

"Who the hell are you to tell me to do anything?!"

He shook his head, and as I walked behind him I couldn't tell if he was smiling or frowning. "You'd be surprised. You don't know a lot, do you?"

I stayed silent. I knew more than he thought, even if he didn't wanna believe it. I'd been in that hellhole for three years. I worked the mines and the pits and seen what happened to those that didn't listen and learn. If you didn't adapt, you died. It's as simple as that.

"Let me tell you something," he stopped by the fence at the other end that led to an adjoining field, "There's more to this than meets the eyes, and you'd do well to stop digging. It's not my place to say, so Leo'll have ta explain it to you."

"Why him? If it's something so important why don't ya just spit it out?"

He unhooked the chains about the other fence. The black bandanna tails fell over his shoulder and he shook his head again, like it's all some big secret I'm not allowed to be a part of.

"Trust me, if it were up to me I'd let you in on it in a heartbeat. To me the more that know, the more that side with us and the sooner we can get outta this place…but it isn't just my decision. There's three of us. Either we go all in or we back out. We don't do things half way. If we let you in on it, we have to let your friend in on it, too. I'm sure Leo'll be eager ta fill you in, but we can't risk that friend of yours blowin' things for us. Not after we've spent so long fitting things together."

He opened the gate before I could say anything and walked through it. He didn't wait for me. Leaving the gate open, we wandered into the neighbouring field which was identical to the one we had just come from. The only difference was that there weren't near as many horses, and there was someone standing in the centre of the field.

"Wait here."

That's all Kai said before he walked away from me. He waded through the tall grass and I watched him go for a moment, but I bore quickly. Leaning back against the post, I tilted my head upwards to catch the sun. It really was beautiful…

The sound of rustling grass hovered over the wind and I caught it. I jumped away as something moved beside me. For a moment I thought it might have been Kai, or I could have been dreaming and I'm still in the fighting pits, but it wasn't. It was some dumb black horse. The thing's got a white stripe down its mane and its nibbling at my uninjured hand.

_What does it want?_

"Go on! Git! Shoo already, will ya?"

I moved away but it followed. Bastard thing! I'm not a huge animal lover, never have been, which is ironic really, I think, considering I'm a mutant turtle, but whatever. That's just me. Mike…Mike loves animals, and Donny's got a soft spot for 'em that he doesn't show often. Not sure about Leo, though. Think he's like me on this one. It's one of the few things we agree on, I guess.

"He isn't gonna bite you."

I looked up, still pushing the horse away as Kai made his way back to me. There's someone else with him, though, some guy turtle. The new guy stands about the same height as me, is a lighter shade of green and has these heavy blue eyes. There's barely no muscle on his arms or legs, and I can't help but wonder how this guy's managed to survive so far. Kai pushes the horse away from me gently, ignoring my stares at the new guy who can't raise his own eyes from the floor.

"He just thinks you've got an apple. That's Kaden's fault. You two look alike and he always brings apples with him."

I didn't answer and he watched the horse trot away before he noticed what, or rather who, my gaze was fixed on.

"Oh, right, introductions. Raphael, this is Thern."

The guy held his hand out, but I didn't shake it. I dragged my eyes away from him to Kai and narrowed them at him. "I thought you said I'd want to meet whoever ya was introducin' me too?"

"I did, and you will. Raph, Thern here is someone you'll definitely wanna get to know."

I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. The guy dropped his hand back down by his side, eyes still on the floor, and didn't say a word. So I picked up the conversation.

"You fucking jestin'? No way, who the hell is this guy? I thought you were gonna take me ta someone I knew!"

Kai laughed against the air and shook his head as if I were stupid. "I already told you, Leo isn't going to be back 'til tomorrow and we've got a lot of work left to do before we can get your other brother."

I hate the way he said it, but I'm also relieved to know that only one of my younger brothers is in this hellhole. That means that either Mike or Donny is safe at home no matter what.

I pushed it to the back of my mind and snapped at Kai. Here I am, tired, hungry, irritated and hurting; so sick of the secrets when all I wanted were answers. I'll be damned if Kai's gonna keep 'em from me any longer.

"So who the hell is this?"

"Raph, meet Thern. He's your little brother-in-law."


	6. Meeting the Locals

I blanked, blinking stupidly. Something bit into me, the teeth of outrage sparking something dangerous inside of me and I started to see red again. Thern seemed to wait with all the patience in the world, but Kai was annoyed, folding his arms and tapping his foot as I scowled at him, struggling with the heavy disbelief in my gut.

"What?!" I growled. I wanted to yell and snap and hit something hard for the first time in a long time, but that one word was all I could manage. It seemed so small and sharp that Thern definitely flinched; shame Kai didn't bat an eyelid. How could Leo do this? l was stuck in an absolute wreck and he was out gettin' hitched?! That bastard!

Kai shrugged, as if it was nothing unusual. "Like I said, you'll definitely wanna get ta know him." He grinned, a toothy thing that seemed darker than his scowl. "Anyway, we should be getting back before Sarai comes traipsing after us; the girl's sweet," his grin fell to a tight line, and there was a bitten edge withheld there, I could tell, "but she's an absolute klutz."

He started to walk away from me, leaving me with this quiet turtle who wouldn't mutter a damn syllable. I glanced back to Thern, who _still_ had his eyes on the floor, before I turned and yanked Kai back. He tried to shrug my arm off irritably, but I tightened my grip, my jaw clenching. I refused to let go.

"Don't you _dare_ walk away from me!" I seethed, and something dark passed over his eyes for the briefest of seconds. I was aware of Thern shuffling away on quiet, unsteady feet, and I could feel Kai tensing beneath my grip. But I was unrelenting. I wanted answers, and I was going to get them no matter what.

"If you know what's good for ya you'll take your hand offa me," Kai whispered.

Turtle that I am, I ignored the threat. My eyes narrowed and I could see his hands twitching, eager to reach for those knives on his belt. But he didn't; not yet. I had hold of his tattooed arm, and it felt scratchy beneath my fingers, not smooth like the regular marks the Purple Dragon goons had, and I think he knew I could have dislocated his arm before he had chance to reach his weapons. Even if I am rusty, I'm not gonna go down without a fight.

"I want answers, Kai! An' you're gonna give 'em to me."

He stared at me for ages, or at least it seemed that way. The tension dripped from us both in waves, and the pressure of it had my chest heaving with every laboured breath. I refused to ease my grip, and slowly his fingers stopped flexing. Never once did he smirk. His lips didn't so much as twitch away from that hard line.

"I knew it'd be a mistake ta bring you here," he growled.

I scoffed. "And what the heck's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means," he grabbed my wrist, digging his thumb in deep to the pressure point between the joints and withdrawing a snarl from me. The pain swelled and I could feel my hand beginning to numb, but I didn't release my hold on him; I had been trained to fight through the pain, and where my body failed, my anger raged me on. Kai seemed unimpressed and only shook his head. "You got lucky. I wouldn't count on it twice."

He shoved me hard, and in my surprise I released him. Luck? What had luck to do with anything? I'm where I am because of myself and Leo, right? What's this jerk talking about now?

I stretched my hand, the feeling coming back with the nerves. "Stop givin' me riddles and start giving me answers, Kai!"

He sighed, ignoring me completely and turning to Thern, who had slowly drifted twenty feet from us. "It's alright, kid! Ya can come back." He gave me another dark glare before he turned to the gates. "We're done here."

I was left seething on the spot as he left. Without waiting for me or the new guy he marched back through the grass and jumped the gate, muttering under his breath all the while and shaking his head. I was left alone in the paddock with this 'new addition to the family'. Tch, yeah right.

Slowly, as if nervous of me (like Sarai in a way), he approached on soft padded feet and offered me another small smile, his head bowed to his chin. But still he didn't speak. I rolled my eyes and started forwards on my own. I didn't have time to talk with this new kid, and to be frank I didn't want to. I don't wanna know anybody here. Just as soon as Leo gets back we can start hatchin' a plan to save my other brother, and then we can bust outta this place. We don't need any more dead weight.

The walk back seemed longer than the walk there. I couldn't exactly get lost seeing as I only had to cut through another field and follow the path back down towards the only building for miles around. But still, there was no sign of Kai, and thankfully no sign of Thern following. I'm not a chatty person as it is, and I don't fancy walking back in awkward silence when I'd rather be on my own anyway. So for the most part the only sound was the odd horse going nuts in a field, my footsteps against the gravel and a few curses that escaped me every so often.

The sun was scorching, but then again I think after so long in the dark it's gonna feel like that. I didn't exactly find it unwelcoming, just strange. The house loomed closer, and as I made it through the clearing I found the barn doors shuttered up and nobody in sight. If I didn't know any better I would have thought the place abandoned or deserted.

Stepping into the opening, I paused, looking back to see if Thern was following. He wasn't. I wanted to feel relief, but instead I felt almost guilty. It wasn't the guy's fault I was angry; it was Kai and Leo's. Leo for getting damn married and Kai for riling me up.

'_Maybe I should have waited for him…'_

I was contemplating whether or not to go back when the door to the house opened, and Sarai came rushing out. Her hair was a mess, her hands tightly knotted as fists, and her eyes seemed to burn with rage. The door swung on its hinges and battered against the wall whilst she jumped down the steps and seethed, turning on the spot and pointing up towards the doorway.

"You're a real jerk, yanno that?!"

Confused, an eye ridge raised, I don't think she noticed me stood by the pass. I glanced up to the doorway, expecting to see Kai with that confident grin I would love to punch off his face, but instead there was somebody new. Somebody I hadn't seen before.

A mutant oxen leaned against the doorframe, wrapped in a tight pair of red shorts and a filthy white shirt that showed off the bulging muscles and black fur. The horns on his head were small and twisted, one shorter than the other as if it had been grated down. Something sparkled in the floppy skin of his left ear, and the earring bounced with the rolls of laughter that chuckled through his brutish chest. He snorted, his snout thick, and he blew Sarai a mock kiss, his arms folded leisurely.

"Aw, what's up sweetheart? Too much sugar?"

Sarai started and straightened up, hissing with so much venom I could only stare at her in shock. "Drop dead, Laquan!"

"Oh?" Laquan unfolded his arms, making his way down the steps the way a rich man would saunter down the street. Shoulders pushed back, knuckles cracking, he approached Sarai as she scoffed and walked away from him, heading in my direction.

Now I knew she'd seen me, but still she showed no recognition. The girl I'd met in the truck had disappeared beneath the deathly glare, and now she seemed filled with a rage thanks to her pursuer. She was three feet from me when she lifted her stare from the floor.

"Where's Kai?" She snapped.

I shrugged. "How should I know?"

Laquan called her name and she physically flinched, her face wrinkling deeply when she growled. "You're not allowed on this land, Laquan! When Kai finds out-"

"And where is Kainat now?" Laquan asked, his laugh so nasally and thick he snorted between each breath. "It seems to me that he is not around. Tut tut, you know that is a federal offence, don't you?"

Sarai walked the rest of the way to me, turning sideways on to glare at the newcomer, but he was unfazed. Stopping before us, he stood two feet taller than me, and even Raguel didn't hold a candle to the breadth of his chest. Was he large? Ridiculously so. The guy looked like he'd been hepped up on roids for breakfast, lunch and supper. And you know what they say about steroids, right? Use 'em too long and you're guaranteed to have a shrivelled, un-usable little co-

"Why are you here, Laquan?" Sarai bit, taking a step back. And suddenly I realised that she was just a few inches behind me, and even if she did try acting fierce, she was nervous as hell. The sweat drenching her hair and the quiver in her voice said as much.

Laquan tensed, and his smile disappeared. "Where is Leonardo?"

That caught my attention. This overgrown piece of cattle crap is looking for my brother? I'm guessing by the way he's pounding his fist into his palm that he's not a friend of my brother's, not that Leo's the easiest guy to be friends with. Sarai swallowed, shaking her head and taking another step back under the guy's giant shadow. Even if I didn't wanna sort this guy out, now I have to, if only to try and find out what's going on.

I stepped forward to meet him, my hands going to my hips where once my sais would have been. "Whatcha want him for?"

Laquan snorted again, and I turned my head so the spit only caught the side of my cheek rather than my face. His yellow teeth ground together so loudly I could hear them, and I faintly took note of the white tribal pattern bleached against the fur of his left arm; the mark similar to Kai's.

"What's this?" Another snort, and his brown eyes narrowed slightly. "Kainat's been investing in new stock? Ha!" I growled when he began seizing me up and down like a piece of meat at the butchers. "He has poor taste for quality. This beast is unbroken, and it is damaged."

He went to reach for my wounded arm, but I swatted his hand away. "This beast's gonna knock ya out if you don't move along."

"A fighter… Kainat's choices are becoming strange. So he has finally become deluded in his grief for Illyana. I wondered how long it would take."

Another name I didn't know, but the words had me curious. Kai was grieving? And it was for someone called Illyana? Funny, from the whole few hours I've spent with the guy he seemed closed up and snarky. Is that why? I was about to ask just who this Illyana was and what it had to do with Leo before I heard the familiar sound of metal slicing through the air. The sound was like a pinprick in a whirring factory of noise, and you have to be trained to listen with honed instincts to hear it.

I heard it slice through the air towards us, and out of instinct I jumped back, dragging Sarai with me and ignoring her yelp. She pushed away from me and stumbled back; Laquan was confused for a whole half a second, and then the metal knife smashed into his horns, sinking deep into the twisted antler and burrowing tightly. The force of the impact sent Laquan jolting sideways, staggering down to one knee where he roared and fumed, jumping up ferociously and turning back with clots of anger ghosting over his vision. He snorted again, the knife still stuck in his horns, and from around his side Kai stomped forwards, his calm composure all but gone, leaving him with ragged breaths as he pulled another two knives from his belt.

"Don't you _dare_ to _ever_ speak her name, Laquan! I swear to you," he paused, stopping a few feet away, holding his knives so tight they cut into his own skin, "I swear if you so much as whisper her name I will gut you like those you slaughter!"

The threat was real, I could sense that much. Sarai started forwards, but I caught her about the middle, pulling her back and away from the unstable Kai and the chuckling madman. I had no weapons of my own, and although I could fight, I didn't want to be getting caught up in someone else's mess, especially not seeing as my arm had started freshly bleeding over the bandages again.

Laquan straightened himself, brushing the dust from his clothes and yanking the knife from his horn, tossing it at Kai's feet. With a sadistic smirk he clicked his neck. "You missed, Kainat. I would suggest working on your aim."

"It was a warning. If you're smart you'll take it and get the fuck out of here!"

I watched Laquan roll his shoulders back, casting me another empty glare. "You are making rash and foolish decisions, Kainat. I am surprised the others left you alone in your grief."

Kai tensed, and even Sarai seemed to gasp at the comment. I pushed her back again, this time letting her go as things began to become increasingly tense. I had a feeling I'd be needed soon, and even if I'm not keen on the jerk, I'd sooner jump in the ring on Kai's side than Laquan's. From further behind Kai there came the slamming of the door one more, and Raguel stood in the doorway, slightly stooped and hunched, but still filling the frame of the wood. Slowly he descended, but the only eyes that stayed with him as he approached were Sarai's; mine were drawn back to the showdown between Kai and Laquan.

"Heh, you are most definitely losing your touch, Kainat. Are you accepting all forms of misfits to your farm, lately? Or is it just the maimed and the deluded?"

"I'm gonna give you one last chance to get your sorry hide offa my property before I cut you into pieces!" Kai snarled, and the knives slipped between his fingers, ready to be thrown.

"But I am not ready to leave. I am still looking for Leonardo, and I feel I may stay and wait for him to arrive, with or without your permission."

"Hey, you got a bone ta pick with my brother then you gotta deal with me first!" I snarled, and Laquan's eyes were brought across to me. He frowned, an ugly expression for his face, and then he laughed. It's the one thing he seems ta keep doing, and it's really starting to piss me off!

"You? You are the one Leonardo has been searching for?" He snorted again, thick mucus scattering across the ground. "You must excuse me, I was expecting someone less… pathetic."

"What?! You wanna say that again?! I dare ya!" I stomped forwards, and this time it was Sarai pulling me back before I ripped the twerp in two.

"What is going on?" Raguel had finally reached us, and he seemed beyond confused. Leaning towards his wounded side, his breath coming in huffs large even for a man of his stature, he fixed his stare upon us all, and judgement seemed ta come with it.

"Nothing. Laquan was just leaving." Kai growled, his knives drawing red from his palm, but he didn't seem ta notice, and if he did he didn't care.

"You are mistaken, Kainat. I am waiting for-"

"If you have been asked to leave, considering that this land does not belong to you and that you are merely a guest, or perhaps an unwelcome trespasser, I would suggest that you regard the warning given to you, and that you take haste upon your leave," Raguel said, shoulders back and looking just as menacing as he did in those cells beneath the Cage.

"And who are _you_ to suggest anything me, slave?!" Laquan bristled, but Raguel refused to move as the oxen squared up to him.

Standing as strong as ever, as if his side wasn't openly bleeding and he could have taken the world upon his shoulders, Raguel smiled – something I'd rarely seen him do. Tipping his head to the side, considering his opponent, Raguel spoke with that deep voice of his. "My name is Raguel, and I would ask you to respect the wishes of Kainat. He has asked you to leave, and I think you should."

"Or what?"

"Hopefully it will not come to violence, but if that is the path you wish to be shipped towards, I fear you shall leave with many a pain to accompany you on your journey home."

"Are you threatening me, slave?!"

"I'm threatening you!" Kai shouted, but I could tell Laquan wasn't interested in him anymore.

Now I knew the dumb ox only had eyes for Raguel, and Raguel was injured and unused to the glare of the sun; meaning advantage oxen. I went to start forward, shrugging Sarai off, but Raguel held up his hand, shaking his head.

"Indeed, I am warning you. What is it that you will do oxen?"

Laquan's mouth dropped open, and I grinned to see him stuttering for an answer. He must have come up empty because no sooner had he closed his mouth in a tight line that he was pulling back, his hand coiling into a fist as he roared. There was no time to even think before his hand was inches from Raguel's wounded side; a cheap and nasty shot that had me bristling and Kai pulling his knives back over his shoulder, ready to fire…

But something else happened. Something I didn't and couldn't have expected.

Laquan's fist was centimetres from Raguel's side, my shoulders had tightened into a knot and a curse was ready to be spat out from my lips, but at the last moment Raguel turned to a side, a sad smile on his face as Laquan lit up with horrified shock. I pulled myself back, startled myself as the force of Laquan's attack pulled his body forwards, but Raguel stopped him. Snatching his fist up from the air, turning the enemy in the dirt and bringing him to his knees with a fluid flick of his wrist, he held Laquan's fist tightly, bending it down and in on itself forcefully.

The scream that tore itself from Laquan was something that still gives me nightmares. For all the fighting and crying the Cage offered, for all the sobs that flowed through the East Mines, none of them had sounded so damn animalistic. It couldn't have been any further away from human if it had tried. Still holding tight to the fist, his smile completely gone, Raguel pushed the bones further in on themselves, tightening his own fist and refusing to let go.

Laquan sank to his knees, pulling on his hand to try and free it, struggling to suck in each and every breath, but Raguel seemed far from finished. He stood like a mountain, indestructible and immovable, and I don't know how, and I don't wanna know how, but blood started to flow up from that crushed fist to make its way over Raguel's hand - but _still_ he stood unfazed. The guy just didn't know when to call it quits! Even _I_ knew the sobbing wreck on the floor had had enough.

"Raph! RAPH!"

I turned to Kai, swallowing hard. His knives were away and he was at Raguel's side, trying to separate the two fists. He glared at me, shouting as Raguel refused to release the crushed bones.

"God damn-it, Raphael snap outta it and give me a hand!"

I jumped; he sounded so much like Leo on the night that this had all started all those years ago…

I didn't even see Kai run to Raguel's side, but I wasted no time in worrying about it. Sprinting to Raguel's other side, I faced the angry, bloody mess. I couldn't decipher Laquan's fingers through the mess, but sharp, white pieces of bone where being pushed further through the skin. Locking my fingers between Raguel's, the strength was unbearable, and I couldn't shift him even a little, despite Kai's help.

Laquan was sobbing on the floor, whimpering and crying loudly, chocking on his own snorts as he struggled for breath, and I knew that Raguel wasn't planning on letting go. I released the hand, leaving Kai to struggle with the grip as beyond us somewhere Sarai covered her mouth and cried into her hands.

I faced Raguel. His eyes never once left Laquan's, and his face had become a tight series of twitching knots, his mouth so hard a line and his teeth so tightly clamped it was a wonder his jaw never snapped. His other hand tightened by his side, and being careful was my top priority. The last thing I wanted was a second serving of Laquan's beating, and even though I never thought Raguel capable of such a thing, the past thirty seconds had completely thrown everything I knew upside down and filled me with doubt.

"Raguel!" I yelled, determined to get him to break away from the stupid ox, but he didn't seem to be able to hear me. His eyes had filled with a glaze, and it was almost like he wasn't really there anymore. "Raguel!" I tried again, but nothing changed.

"You don't get him ta let go soon I'm gonna have ta cut him free, Raph!" Kai snapped, still pulling hard to try and force a release.

I began to panic. I'm not good at this kinda thing! This is Leo's department, or maybe Donny's; never mine! I screw things like this up because all I do is force things through!

I stopped, paused for the faintest of heartbeats, and I heard Kai draw his knife. Desperate to force Raguel off, ignoring my wounded arm, I raised both arms and shoved Raguel hard, my hands going numb from the sheer shock of hitting his plastron so hard. He jerked, twitched, but refused to let go.

Laquan's cries had dumbed down to the softest of whimpers. Kai was yelling, cursing in a language I didn't understand, and my brain began to flare with suggestions; all of which I knew wouldn't work. My arm began to bleed again, weeping over the bandages, and a brainwave hit me.

"Ya gotta forgive me, Raguel," I mumbled, before I pulled back my fist and smashed it into his bleeding side. The effect was immediate. With a yowl of pain Raguel seemed to take a broken breath and light returned to his eyes. He swallowed and I steadied him as he staggered, his fist still held tightly to Laquan's.

"Raguel!" he turned his eyes to me, and I felt the situation brighten a little as recognition swam over his face. "Raguel, you _have_ to let go! The guy's done, alright? It's over, you win! Just let go!"

He seemed confused, but as he looked down to his hand where Kai was waiting to see if he would have to use his knives, horror crossed his face, and he physically drained of all colour. Gagging, he shakily released the mangled mess and fell backwards onto the ground, staring at his hand as if it were an alien appendage or something.

I fell to my knees beside him, helping him up as Kai looked over the mess. Raguel was shaking violently, and he seemed to take his breaths as if he had been starved of them.

"Alright buddy, deep breaths and you'll be fine… what the hell happened? You were okay at first and then you just… you just…"

I struggled to find words, but Raguel seemed to understand. Panting for every breath, he watched the blood dry on his palm. "The Cage infects bad habits into its prisoners. I… I was locked away for a long time, Raphael. When fighting I became something I had no control over… that I have no control over. I am sorry."

I remembered the warning Raguel gave me back when I was in the Cage. He'd mentioned his inability for self-restraint... Glancing back down to the maimed ox on the floor, I winced to find myself with a very, very lucky escape.

Laquan struggled to his feet, nursing his hand with curses fresh on his lips and tears mingled into his fur. I felt sick at the sight of the wreck, but I stood strong by my friend.

"That thing is not fit to live!" Laquan cried, pushing Kai out of the way as he swayed towards his truck. "The High Council will hear of this, Kainat! This is the last straw! You'll see… you'll all see!" Opening the truck door, clambering in, I was surprised that he could drive in his condition, but Kai seemed undeterred, and Sarai was too badly shaken to notice.

He pulled away and drove down the path with a clog of dust following after him. When he was nothing but a spec in the distance, I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding and reached down to help Raguel up. Then my attention was on Kai.

He was staring down at the blood on the ground, shaking his head with his hands on his hips. But he said nothing. For a while longer we all stood there in silence, not knowing what to say. Raguel's eyes stayed shamefully on the floor, and he leaned heavily on my shoulder.

Steadying her breaths, Sarai stepped towards Kai, avoiding the blood as much as she could. "Kai…? What now?"

"Well, with a little luck that prick'll crash due to blood loss and die on the road, but I have a feeling that's not gonna happen. You should all get some rest while you still can; the next few weeks are going to get busy, and…" he stopped, and it seemed ta me he was catching himself before he said somethin' he'd regret. He shook his head and turned to the house. "I've got a few calls ta make."

"I am deeply sorry for my actions," Raguel whispered, dipping his head further.

"What the hell for?! That guy deserved everythin' he got!" I snapped, but he refused to so much as look at me, let alone entertain the idea.

"He may have deserved it, but now we're gonna have more than just one pair of eyes on our backs. The last thing we needed was more enemies." Kai sighed, his shoulders dipping inwards.

"It's not like he was a friend," Sarai muttered, seeming to recover from her shock. Giving me and Raguel one last shaky smile, she muttered about finding Thern and vanished into the fields.

Kai rubbed at his eyes, huffing down at the blood. "Damn… what a mess."

"What is going to happen?" Raguel asked, and I nearly jumped to hear his voice tremble with fear.

Kai shrugged. "I'm not… I'm not sure. I'll try and fight for you, as I'm sure Leo and Adrienne will too, but this… this is serious! That ox has friends; strong friends at that, and he threatened to get the High Council involved." He shook his head, and my brain began swimming with questions, but I knew now wasn't the time to be pushing for answers. "You two should go inside before your wounds pull anymore. I'm sure Sarai will patch you up when she gets back. No doubt she'll have a hot meal in you and settle you before bed, too."

"She seemed rather afraid…"

Kai raised an expectant eye-ridge at Raguel. "Well whatcha expect? Don't worry, she's a shock-absorber that one. She'll bounce back within the hour." He stopped as if thinking things over before he turned to us again, that smirk back on his face. "Was pretty sweet to see that oxen cry, though. I can't tell ya how much of a pain that bastard's been since… well, he's been a pain for a long time, and it was good to see him knocked down a couple of pegs."

"I crossed a line, and I am sorry."

"Nah, don't be. Accidents happen, right? Anyway, I have to get these calls outta the way-"

"You gonna call Leo?" I asked, and I hate ta think I was almost hopeful that he would.

He shook his head. "No, I'm gonna call a friend and see if I can't beat Laquan to the punch. I'll report him as trespassing and self-defence… we'll go from there, I guess."

Kai never said bye as he stalked around the side of the barn, pulling his phone from his pocket with a heavy sigh. Somewhere through the fields something startled the crows into flocking to the sky, and I found myself alone with the turtle that had just crushed another mutant's fist into fragments. I knew I should have been afraid, but I wasn't. I trusted Raguel wholeheartedly. Whether that was smart or not I'm not entirely sure.

Slowly we made our way towards the house, Raguel leaning heavily on my shoulders, muttering apologies over and over and praying for forgiveness from all that was holy above. I rolled my eyes and ignored him. There was only one focus on my mind, and it was my brother. Laquan had been looking for him, but why? It didn't seem to be anything good.

'_Something strange is going on here, and the sooner Leo gets his butt back here the sooner I'll get my answers, then we can start to figure things out and get the shell outta this place. __Hell, I can't wait for that.'_

I staggered helping Raguel up the steps, and the grunts escaped us both heavily. I hate to think that I almost felt guilty... almost. I still have a brother to save, and we still have a life back in New York; back home, where I'm going, no matter what happens.


End file.
